


Matchmaker, Matchmaker

by Lord Angelcake (EuterpesChild)



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-03
Updated: 2016-10-03
Packaged: 2018-08-19 06:14:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,576
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8193334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EuterpesChild/pseuds/Lord%20Angelcake
Summary: Originally written in 2014.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheCityLightShow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCityLightShow/gifts).



_“Will and Gabby are so good together!” “No, what are you talking about?! Obviously Holly and Gabby are the best option!” “Actually, Gabby talks about Amy all the time…” “Nooooo, no no no: Amy and Fenton are clearly meant for each other.” “That is true.” “Yeah… What about Gabby though? Who is best for her?”_

 

When you’re five, your mother, along with the mothers of all the children you know, begins talking about who you will marry when you’re grown. They all have their different opinions, but it’s okay, as all of you are still between the ages of four and seven. You don’t even know these conversations are happening, of course. You’re too wrapped up in playing with the kids your mothers are discussing. Who needs marriage anyway when you have a sandbox?

 

_“Gabby seems to be obsessed with Isaac. Does he realize that?” “No he’s too busy chasing after Beth, honestly. I’ll bring her up though.” “What about Amy?” “And my Holly? She and Gabby are nearly inseparable.” “Will told me the other day he’s in love with Holly.” “He’s seven years old: what does he know of love?” “Still though, that’s a good point… I’ll see what Holly thinks of him.” “We still have Lewis and Amy to think about, though!” “And Gabby; we can’t forget her!” “No worries there…”_

When you’re eight, you begin noticing your mother watching you from the edge of the playground and taking notes about your playmates when she thinks you aren’t looking. This is also the period when you begin noticing features about the boys you are in school with. Lewis’ hair; Will’s hands; Isaac’s voice. Your girl friends start to notice things too, and you spend more time talking about the boys than talking to them.

 

_“Holly’s been moody a lot lately. I think it has to do with one of the other children. Any ideas who it could be?” “It’s not Beth or Will; they’ve thoroughly declared themselves a couple. I don’t agree with it, but we’ll see how it turns out.” “What about Fenton? Do he and Holly talk at all?” “No, he’s much too young for her. Besides, he fancies Amy at the moment.” “Who could it be, then?” “It might be Gabby, actually.” “No, surely not! She barely mentions Gabby anymore.” “Well then? What more proof do you need?”_

When you’re twelve, you have your first kiss. It’s a clumsy, hurried affair. Valentine’s Day, behind the bus stop. Holly got off early to walk you to your house, and you stumble into her – mostly by accident – and your mouths end up touching for a second. She pulls away quickly, cheeks flaming, but the memory lingers on your lips. Isaac asks you out the next day. You say yes with a vengeance.

 

_“It’s definitely Gabby and Holly. No doubt about that. What do you think about that?” “What about Isaac? Weren’t he and Gabby dating?” “No, they broke up ages ago. I’m fine with our daughters being together; what do you think?” “I think Holly’s going to break her heart. Or rather, she’s going to break her own heart over Holly.” “That’s cheerful. Meanwhile Beth and Will are still going strong, and how’s Amy?” “She doesn’t seem to fancy anyone, and, not to offend anyone here, but I honestly don’t like her options in Bradford.” “Lewis, on the other hand: he keeps gushing about that new girl, whatever her name is. It’s too bad she doesn’t have a mum to join us; I guess she’ll never marry.”_

When you’re fifteen, a new girl joins your school. That never happens. You’re wary of her at first: all blue hair and perfect grades. But she instantly befriends everyone in school, and half your friends have crushes on her. You manage to avoid her for the first week, but halfway through week two she sits next to you in RE. She sticks out a long-nailed hand, and introduces herself as Emma. Her smile is infectious, and so you reluctantly introduce yourself to her. She’s incredibly nice, obviously smart, and, it turns out, very flirtatious. You don’t mind it, somehow, and by the end of the week you’ve begun telling each other outrageous pick-up lines at every opportunity. You think about asking her out, and you can tell she wants to ask you, but by this point you’re serious about Holly. She’s leaving for University in a year, and you want to spend as much of that year with her as possible. Emma respects that.

 

_“Almost all of them are eighteen now. We’ve really got to make a decision. Thoughts?” “Will and Beth, Fenton and Amy, Gabby and Holly. Lewis will fend for himself at university, or, if he prefers, Ulrich is still available.” “That other girl, though: the one without a mother. Shouldn’t we find a match for her, too? It seems wrong somehow to leave her out, even if she is a newer addition.” “No, I don’t think we should, actually.” “If she had a mother, that might be different. But as it is, she’s not one of us, so why should we treat her that way?” “I agree!” “So do I!” “If she doesn’t get married, why should we care?”_

When you’re eighteen, things get hard. Holly’s been at university for two years. All your other friends have been paired off by your parents. Emma’s been obviously in love with you for the past three years, and while the two of you are very close and have even kissed, you still cling to your false hopes of Holly and keep Emma a hand’s breadth away. She’s going to West London for uni; you’re going to Edinburgh. She did apply to Edinburgh as well, but they didn’t have the program she wanted. She tried valiantly to get you to come with her. She really did. But you want to distance yourself from her for a bit so that you can try to approach Holly as an adult. While she respects your decision, the two of you have a huge fight the night before you both move out. She tries to apologise and reason with you in tears at the end, and promises to keep in touch. You turn your back, dry-eyed and stone-faced, and don’t shed a tear until she leaves.

 

_“How is it that none of the matches we made and encouraged have worked out?” “Well they’re all married; isn’t that what we wanted?” “All but Gabby, you mean.” “Well we knew from the start that she was going to be the hard one. Everyone loves her, but she never really liked anyone else.” “That’s not true: she loved Holly.” “And we see how well that turned out.” “That was not her fault! Holly pushed her away!” “Only because Gabby kept coming after her!” “Isn’t that what we agreed? That Holly and Gabby should be together?” “Don’t you dare blame this on me! I couldn’t control what happened to Holly at university! Besides, if she’d ever given any signs of not wanting to be with Gabby-“ “So now you’re going to blame it on your daughter?! That’s the point of being a mother: YOU READ THE SIGNS!” “Ladies, please calm down! We’re not going to solve this by shouting. Gabby is twenty-two years old and still unmarried. None of our other children are options any more, this is true. But there is one final option we haven’t considered. This option has been there all along, and Gabby has never spoken ill of this option. In fact, I believe she may have loved them more than even Holly, as hard as that is to believe.” “What option are you talking about? Surely there’s no one else we know?” “Oh there most certainly is…”_

When you’re twenty-two, you go to a rock concert. Emma is the artist, but she goes by a different name now, so you didn’t know it was her until she got on stage. You wait afterwards to talk to her, almost losing your nerve about thirty times. It takes a moment for her to find you, but no time at all for her to recognise you. She breaks through the crowd of adoring fans and runs straight to you. She’s about to leap at you for a hug, then her face falls as she remembers that you’d parted four years ago on bad terms. She gives you a half-smile as she waits for you to speak first. You hesitate for a moment, then step forward and wrap your arms around her as tightly as possible. She reciprocates instantly.

 

_“Oh, that’s who you meant.” “Do you think it’s a good plan?” “I think we should wait and see what happens.” “But our job is to be the matchmakers: we’re not supposed to let our children think for themselves!” “In this case, something stronger than our plans brought them together, so I think we should wait and see what they do.” “I suppose you’re right.”_

When you’re twenty-three, you finally get married. That day is also the day that you realize who you truly loved all along. You’ll never forget about Holly, this is true. There are even days when you walk in the door and expect to hear a different accent from the one that greets one. But as you turn and see the beaming face of Emma right beside you, you think that maybe, just maybe, this choice was the right one.


End file.
